Good morning. One family has become an example of how those trying to claim asylum in Canada face a very different reality than one year ago, thanks to the sweeping immigration crackdown in the U.S. More on that below, plus a landmark ruling (and appeal) for Indigenous land claims and how to prepare for this week’s meteor shower. But first:

• In a Gaza refugee camp, freelance journalist Hasan Jaber speaks with Palestinians about Israel’s plans to re-occupy the strip
• Some medicines made from Canadian-donated blood plasma are being sold abroad
• The notwithstanding clause does not automatically shield governments from judicial review, according to a ruling from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal

A family fleeing the Taliban and attempting to join relatives in Canada has been held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention for months. After brief stints in Iran and Brazil, the family reached the U.S.-Mexico border in May, 2024, where their lawyers say they are stuck in a “legal trap” as they navigate evolving policies and exceptions.

Sara Mojtehedzadeh is a reporter on The Globe’s investigative team, with a focus on immigration issues. She wrote a story about the family, and now joins The Decibel podcast to speak with Shannon Proudfoot about their situation. Here is some of their conversation.

SHANNON: So this would have been at the point when there was more stringent enforcement after the second Trump administration took effect. And it sounds like this family story would have been very different if it had happened a year ago. Can you tell us what else you know about what happened right after they were apprehended?

SARA: There was a group of this woman’s family who crossed together. It included her mom, her dad and a few of her siblings. They were arrested, and they were all placed in ICE detention facilities. For reasons that are still unexplained, the mom and one of the siblings was released and were allowed to carry on their journey to the Canadian border, where they were granted entry under one of these family reunification exemptions, and they have now been able to lodge refugee claims here in Canada. The father and two siblings remain in detention. We don’t know why some of the family was released and some weren’t, but what we do know is that since January – Trump’s inauguration – he has essentially upended immigration enforcement and asylum policy in the United States and moved toward this model of mandatory detention.

Can you walk us through a little more this catch-22 they’re stuck in now as they’re detained and stuck in the United States?

They couldn’t fly directly to Canada, because that would have required, essentially, a tourist visa. Government lawyers have said that they will release the family from ICE detention if they agree to depart by air, but again, that would require a visitor’s visa. So that leaves only one other channel for them to get to Canada by plane, that’s something called a temporary resident permit. Something that the Canadian government can issue in special circumstances where someone would otherwise be inadmissible to Canada. So their lawyers have now made an application for one of those permits, and are obviously hoping that the Canadian government agrees to issue that before this family is potentially deported.

And from what I’ve heard talking to lawyers who have worked on these types of cases in the past, under previous administrations, ICE would sometimes facilitate people’s ability to get to the Canadian border so that they can file claims under one of these exemptions.

What do we know about their condition right now?

I was able to connect to the sister who’s in detention at the moment. She was obviously very distressed. She said at the time that we spoke that she hadn’t been able to leave her cell in about two weeks. She said there are between 90 and 100 women in the cell with her. She talked about poor access to medical care. You know, the food she said was being served was causing a lot of illness amongst her and the other cellmates. She said that one of her fellow cellmates was pregnant and placed in solitary confinement and ultimately lost the baby. I think her overwhelming concern was really for her dad and brother. Her brother’s just turned 18 and has a seizure disorder. Her father also has health issues, and so she was very concerned at the conditions that they were being held in in a separate detention facility. And actually, not long after we spoke, her brother was hospitalized, and the family has been struggling to figure out what sort of state he’s in.

What are the possible outcomes at this point for the three people still in detention?

Well, the family’s hope and their lawyers hope is, of course, that the Canadian government will issue them a temporary residence permit. But the alternate outcome is that they are deported. They have a hearing coming up in the next couple weeks. Afghanistan obviously has very well documented safety problems. So there is the possibility that they would be deported to a third country, which is a new move by the Trump administration: When they’re unable to move people to their home country because of fears of persecution, they are now deporting people to third countries like Rwanda or South Sudan.

And I think obviously the hope is that the Canadian government makes its decision before it’s too late. Because once they’re returned to Afghanistan or another country, it will obviously become exponentially harder to reunite with their loved ones in Canada.

This conversation has been shortened and edited for length and clarity.

Israeli strikes killed aid-seekers and journalists, including Anas al-Sharif, who was part of a Reuters team that won a Pulitzer last year for coverage of the war. The prominent journalist, who had previously been threatened by Israel, was killed along with four colleagues. Meanwhile, Australia will recognize a Palestinian state, joining the leaders of France, Britain and Canada in signalling they would do so.